


Teaming Up With ACME

by FlygonAltaria



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Carmen comes back, F/F, Fluff, How Do I Tag, Not Beta Read, One Year Later, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29830212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlygonAltaria/pseuds/FlygonAltaria
Summary: One year after the events of the season finale, Carmen is living with her mother at the orphanage when she's woken in the middle of the night. Someone familiar is trying to steal a drive that used to belong to her father, and someone equality as familiar is there to take them down.Of course, now that Carmen's felt that thrill again, chasing a thief down the halls, fighting them off, leaving them for ACME... it's really hard not to want to jump into that life again. Especially now that she knows there's another organization causing trouble.
Relationships: Julia "Jules" Argent/Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep
Comments: 5
Kudos: 42





	1. Prologue

When Carmen first returned to her long lost mother a the orphanage, things were a bit… weird. 

Not that it could ever be anything but weird, just showing up on her mother’s doorstep, who she had never met, over twenty years after the fire that she had assumed had killed her along with her father.

Carmen had wondered if her mother knew her father was a thief. Of course she had wondered, she had wondered since the moment she discovered who her father was. And it became obvious within the first few moments of meeting that she had, in fact, known the truth.

“Come in!” She had said, after a long silence where she had stared at Carmen as though she was a ghost. She stepped aside, and Carmen gave her a soft smile before stepping in, her bag trailing behind her. 

Carmen’s mother seemed on edge, and Carmen was doing her best to keep her body language as relaxed as possible. Carmen followed her through the long hallway and up a flight of stairs, into a large room. The far wall was nearly completely glass, allowing light to fill the room, and giving them an unobscured view of the back yard, where a few children were playing or walking or reading.

Calming, domestic, home-y….

Carmen felt her mother’s eyes keeping track of her as she inspected the room. As she got closer to a shelf with many pieces of jewelry and antiques, Carmen decided to break the tension. 

“You don’t have to worry you know, I’m not going to take anything,” she said. She tried to keep her tone light, to let her mother know that she didn’t mean it in a harsh way.

Her mother shifted her weight. She was picking at the skin around her nails, probably a subconscious reaction. “I’m sorry, it’s… you’re father was…”

“A thief?” Carmen supplied, finally turning to face her mother directly.

Her mother met her gaze for a moment, looking a bit shocked. Then, she looked out the window, probably to avoid looking directly at her daughter as she said, “He worked for an organization…” 

Carmen felt the words hang in the air. They were a question. Are you one of them? Carmen bit her lip and looked out the window as well. A group of five or six children were running around, throwing grass at one another. She didn’t know how to respond…

She had discussed this with player, she heard his voice in her mind saying “Tell her the truth, Red. She’ll understand.”

But Carmen couldn’t shake the strong urge to simply pretend that that part of her life didn’t happen. She really wanted that. But… it wouldn’t be fair. She already knew about VILE, she would probably find out eventually… so,

“Yeah. VILE. They raised me.”

Carmen felt her mother’s gaze on her again, but she continued to watch the kids. Two of them had claimed a bush to hide behind, three were throwing grass at the bush trying to get to the other two. And from up here, Carmen could see another kid, sneaking around to ambush the two from behind.

“Can I ask what you’re doing here?” Carmen’s mother asked. It lacked any of the sweetness from before. It was formal, it was nervous… It was another hidden question.

Carmen forced herself to turn and face her mother. “I’m not with VILE. I helped take them down, actually.”

Carmen could see the surprise and relief flood through her mother. “Oh, oh good,” she said. She walked over to Carmen, and the two of them watched as the kids erupted into chaos as the ambush happened. There would definitely be grass stains on their pants.

“Your father would tell me about that place,” her mother said. “It sounded awful. I’m… so sorry I wasn’t there for you-“

“Not your fault,” Carmen cut in. 

“But maybe I could have done something-“

“There’s nothing you could have done,” Carmen said. “There was no way he was getting out of there alive, and you wouldn’t have either. You know it’s bad when the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’ are trying to kill you,” Carmen tried for a joke, but it landed flat. It hit a bit too close to home.

“Good guys?” Her mother asked.

“ACME,” Carmen supplied. “They were an organization devoted to taking down VILE. They killed him that night, not VILE. Although they did send someone to.”

Carmen’s mother was quiet for a long time. The sun was starting to set, bathing the back yard in a beautiful orange verging on red.

“How did you escape?” 

Carmen smiled. “Shadowsan saved me. Brought me to VILE, helped raise me - kind of,” she remembered that he had always given her a hard time, but with hindsight it made sense now. “Helped me escape, too. Then helped me take them down.”

“So they raised you,” her mother said quietly.

“Yeah… But I never stole for them. I stole from them,” she said with determination. 

The sound of kids running filled the hall outside the room, and Carmen turned to see some kids looking in the doorway, then running off when they saw that she noticed them. One stayed behind. 

“Who’s that?” Said a little girl, half hiding behind the doorway. Carmen spilled and gave her a little wave.

Her mother turned, “this is…” she gazed questionably at Carmen, and Carmen smiled back at her mother before turning back to the child.

“I’m Carmen.”


	2. Chapter 1

Carmen had way too much energy.

It had been forever since she had done something. The first two weeks of ‘retirement’ were great. She had her hands busy with the kids, with getting to know her mother, with finding a place in the orphanage. 

But now she was bored. It was the same thing every day. She loved it here, she loved the kids, and she loved her mother. But she didn’t love the lifestyle. She had taken up running a few months ago. It had started with just a quick run around the block two or three times a day. Then escalated, and escalated, and now she takes three hours to run every day. And it’s not enough. 

She’s gone to the gym, she’s done all the heavy lifting at the orphanage, she runs and plays with the kids. But she’s missing something. Something, and she can’t put her finger on what.

“You doing okay?” 

Carmen turned to see her mother walk into the kitchen. Carmen rinsed off a plate as she answered “yup!” a bit too enthusiastically.

Her mother smiled at her, a smile that said ‘I know you’re hiding something, you can tell me you know?’

“Have you talked to any of your friends recently? I’d love to meet them.”

Carmen sighed and turned back to her dishes. They’ve had this conversation a few times before. Nearly once a month or two. “No, they… have other stuff to do. It’s better if I’m not involved,” she replied.

“Carmen,” her mother said in that ‘I’m serious but not scolding’ tone. “It’s been over a year, and you haven’t talked to them. You haven’t made new friends. I love having you here, but you’re young. You need to go out, have some fun.”

“I know,” Carmen said, because she knew there was no way to win this argument. “I’ll make friends. There’s an art show setting up down the street, they’ll be open tomorrow. I’ll go meet some people.”

“Good,” her mother said, and Carmen could hear the smile in her voice. Carmen spilled back, continuing her dishes. “I’m proud of you.”

——

Crash!

Carmen shot out of bed. She was already running down the hall by the time her mind registered why she had woken up. Running on instinct.

She ran towards the room that her mother had brought her the first day they met, taking the stairs three at a time, practically gliding up. She heard a kid scream down the hall. 

Carmen slid to a stop at the door, gaze going straight for the collection of jewelry and antiques - “we met at an antique shop, I was unknowingly trying to buy a priceless piece that VILE had stashed there.”

Carmen shook her head. The shelf was immaculate, nothing was taken. But the desk? Yeah, the desk was a mess. They were after a document, then?

Carmen turned on her heals and ran back the way she came. The scream had come from the other hallway, which leads to a set of stairs that emerged to the living room on the first floor. Carmen could cut them off before they reached the front door, which they would have to take if they didn’t want to set off the alarm. Although, now that they’ve been seen, they might take the risk and just jump out the window. They could be gone before the cops arrive, if they planned their route well.

Carmen shook that thought from her head as well, and dashed down the stairs. A child was crying - no, two children? Carmen turned the corner and saw her mother standing in front of three of the children, two crying and the other standing perfectly still. Probably in shock. 

Carmen joined her mother, setting herself between the children and the intruder - 

“Le chèvre?” Carmen asked, her posture relaxing out of confusion.

“Carmen?” He asked. He seemed just as confused as she was. 

Carmen shifted her weight onto one hip and raised a brow. “Stealing from an orphanage? Really?”

Le Chevre glared back, seemingly forgetting his shock. “I have my orders, it’s not my place to question them.”

“Orders?” Carmen asked, looking down at what Le Chevre was holding. A hard-drive? 

Suddenly, wheels squeezed in the distance. They both looked towards the front door. His get-away driver!

Le Chevre glared at her, lowering his stance, ready to fight his way out. “Let me go Carmen, and I’ll pretend I never saw you.”

“Is that a threat?” Carmen asked, moving towards the door. Her mind was racing. Would the driver - probably El Topo - come in as backup if Le Chevre didn’t leave fast enough? It was possible, so Carmen had to think fast.

Let him go now, and guarantee the children’ and her mother’s safety? Or would she have time to take him out before El Too came in?

The wheels squealed into the driveway, and Carmen was diving for Le Chevre before she could make up her mind. 

She grabbed his arm, and he twirled around, using her own momentum to try and trip her. But Carmen’s grip was strong, and she was taking him with her. She hit the ground, let go, and rolled back up onto her feet. He was rolling up as well, fast as ever. 

She was rusty. She hadn’t done anything like this for over a year now… but he was holding the hard-drive. So he only had one hand. And El Topo her mind reminded her. Right. Time limit.

She kicked out to his legs, but he easily jumped over her kick. She let her momentum carry her, and ended the kick early, stopping her foot where he was standing a moment ago, and pushing her weight into him, trying to topple him over while he was still in the air.

He landed clumsily, but he was still on his feet. Then he had the fire piker in his other hand and was swinging it towards her. She lifted her arm to block the blow. It worked in blocking the metal rod from hitting her head, but she forgot there was a sharp edge on the end, a sort of curl in the metal by the end, which pierced her skin and ripped it open as he pulled the rod back. She didn’t know why there was a curved piece on the fire poker, but she suddenly hated the person who decided that was a good idea.

Blood dripped down her arm, but Carmen didn’t care. He was dangerous with that rod, and he had a crazed look in his eyes. He was standing in the middle of the room, between Carmen and the kids, between Carmen and the door.

She heard the door open, saw that he had heard it too. He turned, and she ran. She ran until she was blocking her mother and the kids, who looked on horrified. She was mad at herself for failing, but she let him go. She wasn’t going to risk anyone’s life for some hard-drive with who-knows-what on it. A year ago I could have taken him down easily, Carmen though bitterly as he ran to the door.

Then there was a swoosh sound, and a squeal, a definitely female squeal, and he was back in the room, frantically looking for a way out. Carmen straightened. Not El Topo, then. She still had a chance. She had to get that weapon away from him.

She dived for it as his eyes were looking for an exit. He seemed decided to jump out of a window, but Carmen got to him right as he started his run. They fought over the stick, but Carmen was winning with two hands, while he only had one. He started kicking at her legs, but that left him off balance, and one good twist of the fire poker had him falling to the ground. 

He stared up in shock, then his eyes focused on Carmen. He readied a kick, about to twist off the ground, when his eyes shot past her. There was a moment of panic in his gaze, then another swoosh, and gas passed by Carmen. Someone grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her back as more gas shot towards Le Chevre’s face, and he fell unconscious. 

Carmen took a moment to catch her breath and, more importantly, process what just happened. She stood up straight, turned, and saw a familiar face staring back at her. “Excellent job Ms. Sandiego,” she said in that adorable accent that Carmen hadn’t realized how much she had missed until right this second. 

“Jules!” 

Julia laughed, then frowned at her arm. “Getting rusty Ms. Sandiego?”

Carmen looked down at her arm for the first time since the fight had started. There was quite a bit of blood, but adrenalin was still pumping though her system, so she didn’t feel it yet. Hopefully it wasn’t too bad. She had definitely had worse.

“What about you? I heard your squeak,” Carmen replied with a smirk and an eyebrow raise, her classic “Carmen look.”

Julia blushed, which was the exact reaction she was after. “I did not expect him to run right into me, that’s all.”

“Agent Argent, have you apprehended the suspect?” asked a low female voice. Carmen looked towards the door, where three ACME agents waited. One went towards Carmen’s mother and the kids, who Carmen had suddenly remembered were there.

“Are you guys okay?” Carmen asked. 

“We’ll be fine,” her mother said with a smile, but Carmen could see the fear behind it. The kids were still crying, one of the agents were trying to talk to the one who had froze. 

“Have you got the cuffs?” Carmen heard Julia ask one of the agents.

“Yes, right here.”  
“Then you may cuff him, and Erik, would you mind looking around to see if anything else was taken?”

Carmen walked up to her mother, asking in a low tone, “Are you sure you’re okay? Is there anything I can do?” She looked down at the still crying kids. “Should I get them anything?”

Carmen’s mother shook her head. “I’ll take care of it, you need to get your arm fixed.”

“Ms. Sandiego,” Carmen turned to see Julia walking towards her, the hard-drive in hand. “Do you know anything about this? Why was Le Chevre after it?”

“I have no idea,” Carmen answered honestly. “I thought he and El Topo were running a taco truck. Is…” Carmen lowered her voice. “Is VILE back?”

“Not that I know of, why?” Julia asked, voice also lowered.

“He said he was following orders.”

“Um,” Carmen’s mother cut in. “That was… that hard-drive was Carmen’s father’s. I’ve never seen what’s on it, it’s password protected, but please, take it away. I don’t want this to happen again,” she said, pulling one of the kids closer to her.

Julia gave her a sympathetic smile. “Thank you, we’ll gladly take it.”

Carmen and Julia both turned as they hear Le Chevre regain consciousness. “Okay Le Chevre,” Carmen said, strutting up to him. Julia followed. “What’s with the hard-drive? Did VILE set you up to this just to mess with me or is there actually something on it?”

“Ha!” Le Chevre laughed, though Carmen could see him shaking. “You think VILE set this up? VILE is dead Carmen, thanks to you. We lost Everything.”

“I thought you and your partner were doing fine after VILE,” Carmen admitted. She and Chief had made a deal to let any VILE operatives who dropped off the map and stoped doing crime go. That included not only her best friend who she looked up to as a brother, but Le Chevre and El Topo as well. Without someone giving orders, they wouldn’t continue to steal. 

“We were,” he said, “then they came for us. They are far worse Carmen. Please, you must let me go. If not…”

Carmen sighed. “Yeah I know, no loose ends,” she said, thinking of what to do next. Could they get any more information out of him before they -

“They don’t have a mind-wipe machine,” Le Chevre cut into her thoughts. “Carmen they are far worse than VILE. They’re not thieves at all. They’re…” He glances at the kids. They were still crying, but calming down. He lowers his voice. “They are assassins Carmen. And if I don’t return…”

Carmen’s blood ran cold. Sure VILE were bad, but as fas as she knew they didn’t kill anyone after they had invented the Mind-Wipe machine. But this?

Carmen’s mind ran in circles. She couldn’t understand, or more likely she didn’t want to understand. She didn’t want to believe that there was an organization out there that could do something that…. vile.

“Erik,” Julia called. “Please take Le Chevre and this hard-drive and lock them both in the vehicle. Then I’d like you all to check that no one was hurt, and check that no one else has entered.”

The agents nodded and did as they were told. Carmen felt herself go numb as she watched them take Le Chevre away. He was slumped over, no fight in him. Crying? She’d never seen him like this.

“Yes, it’s in the upstairs washroom,” Carmen heard her mother say when she realized she had spaced out. 

“Thank you,” Julia replied, then motioned for Carmen to follow her up the stairs. “Where is the washroom?” 

“This way,” Carmen showed. She brought Julia to the bathroom and turned to leave, but Julia grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her in before closing the door.

Carmen felt her cheeks heat up, then actively tried to stop them. Instead she deflected “You know there are a lot of rooms in this house, if you wanted to be alone you didn’t have to pick the bathroom.”

Julia rolled her eyes, she was searching through the cabinets. “Your mother said there was a first aid kit here?”

Carmen felt a bit disappointed, but pushed it aside. Of course that’s why she brought her here. She’s injured, that’s all. It’s not like she wants to catch up or anything, or even… 

Carmen blinks the thought away. “Under the sink, back left.”

Julia bends down to look for it, and Carmen forces herself to look away. She looks at her arm, and slowly tries to peal the pieces of shirt sway from the wound. 

“Found it,” Julia says, and puts it on the counter. “Now take your shirt off.”

Carmen feels her cheeks heat again, and is thankful that blushes don’t show up as prominently for her. “What?”

Julia motioned towards Carmen’s arm, where pieces of the destroyed shirt are clinging to the wound despite Carmen’t best efforts. The shirt wasn’t tight, but it wasn’t loose either. She’s definitely have to take it off if she wanted the wound properly wrapped.

Carmen started to remove her shirt, trying very hard to convince herself that it was no big deal. But then she got stuck because her hurt arm wouldn’t lift properly, and Julia grabbed the bottom of the shirt to help, and her fingers brushed against Carmen’s skin and -

Carmen was glad that the shirt had gotten stuck while it was covering her face. It gave her a few moments to compose herself. She had always had a thing for Julia. She was very honest with herself when she knew it could never happen. But a year apart, and with VILE taken down... 

Suddenly Carmen wondered what would happen if she left with Jules. If she returned to stealing for the good guys, but with Julia beside her. Carmen had fantasizes about that before. Back when it wasn’t possible, and it didn’t hurt to imagine the impossible. But now it was here. It was a simple “can I come with you?” away.

But... could Carmen leave this life? She had spent so long looking for her mother, could she honestly just leave a year later? What kind of daughter would she be if she did that. And besides, would Julia leave ACME for her anyway? She seemed to have really made a place for herself. Zack and Ivy are with ACME too. Could she join ACME? Could she do things the “legal” way? The “follow other peoples’ orders” way? Probably not.

“Ms. Sandiego?” Julia’s soft voice pulls her out of her thoughts. She looks concerned.

“Hmm?” Carmen asks.

“Are you feeling okay? Perhaps we should get you to a hospital...”

“I’m good Jules,” Carmen assures her. “Just thinking.”

“About this new organization? It is quite concerning,” Julia agrees. Carmen flinches as Julia pulls a piece of shirt from the wound, and throws it with the rest of the discarded shirt. Carmen looks down and sees various fuzzies and hairs mixed in with the blood. Probably picked up from the carpet. Who knows where they came from originally, with so many kids in the house it could be anywhere.

Julia continues to pull them out, one at a time, as lightly as possible. “You know,” Carmen begins, “I thought when we took down VILE that that would be it. Game over, we win, happily ever after all around.”

Julia smiles. “There are hardly ever any real “happily ever afters,’” she says with a hint of sadness. 

“Yeah,” Carmen agrees sadly. She’s got all she’s ever wanted, but she’s still not happy. It doesn’t feel right. And it’s horrible because she should be happy. This is all she’s ever wanted! She’s got a family, a real family. VILE isn’t a threat anymore, she can have a normal life, and yet....

“Do you know anything about this assassination organization?” Carmen asks.

Julia sighs. “Not much. Until today we weren’t even sure it was an organization. We had no confirmation.”

“Very stealthy then,” Carmen files away. “Anything else?”

Julia pauses. “Carmen, it isn’t safe to discuss this with you. As you’ve once said to me, you’ve made it out of this life. You don’t have to come back if you don’t want to.”

Do I want to? Carmen asks herself. 

Julia works silently for a while, picking out all the debris from the wound and giving it a good clean. It’s worse than Carmen expected it to be. It’s not big, but it’s deep. It will take a while to heal.

“Is that why you let him go?” Carmen finally asks.

“Let who go?” Julia asks as she cuts a piece of gauze and grabs some clips.

“Le Chèvre.” 

Julia raises a brow at her, something that is so Carmen, that Carmen can’t help the smile that forms on her face. “Come on, you left him alone in that car with the hard-drive.”

Julia smiles. “The doors are locked.”

“Where are the keys?” Carmen asks.

Julia pretends to think for a moment. “I must have left them in the car.”

They look at each other for a moment, then both laugh. It feels good, Carmen didn’t realize how much she missed hanging out with friends. If being medically cared for can qualify as hanging out. And if Julia could be considered a friend. Carmen always saw Jules in her own category. And Devineaux, he had his own category too.

“I suppose he must be gone by now,” Julia admits.

“Thanks Jules,” Carmen says. “I know he’s not a bad guy...”

“Not at all,” Julia agrees. “And I would miss his tacos.”

“You had his tacos?” Carmen asked.

“Yes, whenever I was around. They would always refer to me as ‘Carmen’s friend’ and give me a discount”

Carmen laughed. “That’s nice of them.”

Julia smiled and placed the last clip in, keeping the gauze in place. Carmen doesn’t know how long they’ve been in there. It feels like it’s been five minutes and an hour, both at the same time.

“Well, I must be going,” Julia says, in what Carmen hoped is a sad voice. “I’ll have a lot of paperwork to get done tonight.”

“Yeah,” Carmen agreed sadly. She didn’t want this to end. She wanted to talk to Julia until dawn, until the sunset even. There’s so much they need to catch up on. 

Instead, Carmen offers to walk her out. Julia informs Carmen’s mother that they’ll be back tomorrow to conduct a full investigation, and she’ll send her best agents to do the job. Carmen believes her.

They share one last smile before the door closes, and Carmen’s past leaves along with Julia. And it leaves an empty feeling in her stomach.


End file.
